Major Rant About Opening Boxes of Cards

[mr715]

Anyone else in the same boat as I? I am 40 years old, and have been collecting for close to 33 years. I have bought many boxes. I have had many boxes bought for me. I have purchased them at my LCS. I have purchased them online. I have bought 10 dollar boxes. I have bought 150 dollar boxes. To this day here is the best I have pulled in my 33 years of collecting and opening boxes.

1. In the 90's, during college, I must have bought 15-20 Be A Player boxes of 95-96 Hockey. (These were hot back then... one Autograph per pack, with a pack averaging about $10/ea to purchase). I never got the 2 most expensive cards to complete the set. The 300 dollar Wayne Gretzky and the 150 dollar Patrick Roy. They were worth a lot more back in the day. But not a one was pulled by me over the next 20 years of me buying these boxes. I finally gave up buying boxes and I had to go to eBay to get these cards to finish the Auto set.

2. Next in 2012 my wife bought me a box of Topps Football of some sort, I pulled a 150 dollar Cam Newton/Julio Jones Auto card. Probably my best pull to date. I was able to trade this away for a card I wanted for my PC. Finally...

3. Lastly, last year I purchased a box of Jumbo Topps 2014 Baseball. I received a redemption for a Ivan Rodriguez Stratus Auto/GU card. A year later, still no card. I think it books for 150 bucks, but not sure if I will ever see the card.

But that's it... 33 years, 10's of thousands of dollars in cards purchased, and nothing EVER over 150 dollars in worth. Just those two instances. I purchase about 5-10 boxes a year, simply because I have 2 kids and a wife in law school, so the option to purchase 200-500 dollar boxes is just not a choice at this point in my life.

I was stating to my wife, since she purchased 3 100 dollar boxes for me for Xmas, and I got NOTHING... that maybe it's time to not buy boxes anymore? I (We) just do not have the luck to pull anything good.

Anyone else eating POO when it comes to buying boxes? I can't be the only dud out here, am i?

/one frustrated collector

Dave

[yazfan71]

Hey Dave,
I definitely know the feeling! I gave up on buying boxes & packs a couple years ago & just started focusing my hobby funds to PC only items. It just made more sense to me rather than spend money on cards that I really don't want. Sure, there are trades that don't get made because I don't have cards that the other guy wants, but for the most part it wouldn't have mattered anyway as I usually didn't buy anything that I didn't stand at least a chance on pulling a Yastrzemski card from in the first place. I've learned to be patient being on a budget & my collection and attitude are better because of it. Keep your chin up!

Take care,
Kelly

[Lexis]

Nope your not the only one ...spent too much $$ on boxes and basically only got the $10 auto or gu all the time. I'm mainly a vintage collector but, do get newer for trading ....so I did myself a favor a couple of years ago, to look for sales and buy the trade bait. Saves a lot of frustation of time and money and having a lot of base cards I don't want from the newer decades .....now 70's on down, there is no such a thing as unwanted cardboard.
I get the itch now and then to crack a box .....but have to walk away from the source to not spend my Washington's on them. Remember, it's a hobby and it's suppose to be "FUN"

[texansrangerfan73]

I usually eat poo on most boxes which is why I limit my box purchases to 4 a year if that. This tax season I may splurge & buy a 2 boxes of Tribute & Triple Threads or 2 others that gives you a couple better hits & way less garbage cards (base) you can't dump. I love the thrill of opening packs but I can do without all the extra (base) cards since I'm not a set builder.

[Rabs]

Hey Dave,
I definitely know the feeling! I gave up on buying boxes & packs a couple years ago & just started focusing my hobby funds to PC only items. It just made more sense to me rather than spend money on cards that I really don't want. Sure, there are trades that don't get made because I don't have cards that the other guy wants, but for the most part it wouldn't have mattered anyway as I usually didn't buy anything that I didn't stand at least a chance on pulling a Yastrzemski card from in the first place. I've learned to be patient being on a budget & my collection and attitude are better because of it. Keep your chin up!

Take care,
Kelly

I'm just like you. I don't waste my money on boxes and just buy singles for my PC or for trade items that I know others will want. Boxes are a waste of money unless you get lucky and pull a rare card, which I actually did over Christmas but the box was a gift. I much prefer getting cards I know I will want with my money. It isn't as fun in a way since busting packs and boxes is always great since you never know what you'll get, but it just isn't worth it to me.

Group breaks seem to be the way to go. While still risky, at least you can pick a player or team and get all their cards even if you don't get any hits.

[jdawg]

save and buy them by the case....I get super lucky in group breaks but I had the worst luck buying single boxes...now I buy them as sealed cases and my hits always come

[Rabs]

save and buy them by the case....I get super lucky in group breaks but I had the worst luck buying single boxes...now I buy them as sealed cases and my hits always come

I'm sure a lot of people can't afford cases though, but you are right about being guaranteed better hits.

[pwaldo]

Nope you aren't alone. I was the same way so I stopped buying boxes. Now I can get stuff that I could have never dreamed of owning for a fraction of the cost of a box nowadays. It is awesome!

[mr715]

Glad to see I'm no the only one getting screwed over... well not really glad that others are having horrible luck like I am, but having company tells me that it happens to more than I figured. I see all the case breaks going on now, but I don't think I'm ready to go down that road just yet. I really do love opening packs, its the thrill of the chase, I just can't believe I haven't gotten anything I could really trade, for some PC expensive cards I would never have gotten myself, like a Calvin Johnson Exquisite RC or a Stafford Exquisite RC. Those 500 to 1000 dollar RC's are just not in my price range to buy, and I guess I am always hoping to pull that one "EXPENSIVE" card from a box that I buy, and then I could use it to get something nice for my PC.

[pwaldo]

Always remember that for every 1 break of a box that somebody posts online there are 10 others who are too embarrassed to post the dud box that they opened up. It is easy to brag about what you pull but it is very tough to admit when you pull nothing.